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Two more defendants in the case involving a drug ring with roots in Douglas County have been sentenced to prison.
Gregory F. Sperow, 58, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute controlled substances and to conspiracy to launder money, was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in prison on each count. During a hearing in Boise, Idaho, before U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill, the judge ordered the sentences to be served concurrently.
Mark D. Kitzman, 52, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture, distribute and possess controlled substances and conspiracy to launder money, was sentenced Monday to six years and six months in prison. He was also ordered to forfeit $2 million in drug profits and another $500,000 in property purchased with drug proceeds, including a house at 292 Pioneer Way in Winchester and a Rolex watch.
During Sperow's sentencing hearing, Winmill noted that the defendant had a “complete lack of respect for the law.”
Sperow was first caught smuggling illegal drugs into the United States in the mid-1970s, when he was found with 1,330 pounds of marijuana. After being released from prison, he continued smuggling marijuana from Mexico and South America and later became involved in what prosecutors said was “large-scale” methamphetamine manufacturing.
In 1996, investigators linked Sperow to hundreds of pounds of marijuana shipments sent from Los Angeles to Portland, Cleveland and Philadelphia. After being detected at Portland International Airport attempting to retrieve 200 pounds of marijuana in 1996, Sperow fled and spent eight years as a fugitive. He was finally captured in 2004 and sent to prison.
Despite reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors, Sperow filed an appeal Monday with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In earlier hearings before Winmill last year, Sperow argued unsuccessfully that his right to a speedy trial had been violated.
Sperow was indicted along with 16 other defendants in the case in September 2006. He was taken into custody in 2004 on another drug case from Oregon and did not complete his sentence in that case until last October.
Sperow was originally scheduled to go to trial in the current case in early 2007. The case was held over several times and Sperow claimed the delays violated his constitutional rights. Prosecutors said they did everything to move the cases against Sperow and his co-defendants forward as quickly as possible.
At sentencing, Winmill ordered Sperow to forfeit $6 million in drug trafficking proceeds and another $5 million derived through money laundering. The government seized properties in Lakeside, California, Colorado and Hawaii.
Fourteen defendants have been sentenced in the case. Two remaining defendants are scheduled to be sentenced later this summer. Another defendant died after he was indicted.
The drug ring, which operated over three decades, was accused of earning more than $20 million. It began with Jones and several friends who grew up in Days Creek.
The group began growing and selling marijuana in the Days Creek area and later expanded to smuggling large quantities of drugs from Mexico and Southern California. The drug ring was dismantled following the 2002 prosecution of a major north Idaho drug trafficker, Leland Lang, who received shipments from Jones' group.
Police seized $1 million in cash from Lang's mountaintop residence in Stites, Idaho, in 2002. He is scheduled to be released from a federal community corrections facility in Seattle in October.
“The Jones investigation was significant because it combined decades of evidence from multiple jurisdictions and brought charges against an incorrigible group of smugglers, transporters, wholesalers, distributors and money launderers whose criminal activities generated tens of millions of dollars in criminal proceeds,” said Tom Moss, U.S. attorney for Idaho. “This criminal enterprise was brought down through the persistence and hard work of many dedicated law enforcement professionals in Idaho, Oregon and elsewhere.”
Officers with the Douglas Interagency Narcotics Team were among those who spent years investigating Jones and other members of the group.
• You can reach reporter John Sowell at 957-4209 or by e-mail at jsowell@nrtoday.com.
Gregory F. Sperow, 58, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute controlled substances and to conspiracy to launder money, was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in prison on each count. During a hearing in Boise, Idaho, before U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill, the judge ordered the sentences to be served concurrently.
Mark D. Kitzman, 52, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture, distribute and possess controlled substances and conspiracy to launder money, was sentenced Monday to six years and six months in prison. He was also ordered to forfeit $2 million in drug profits and another $500,000 in property purchased with drug proceeds, including a house at 292 Pioneer Way in Winchester and a Rolex watch.
During Sperow's sentencing hearing, Winmill noted that the defendant had a “complete lack of respect for the law.”
Sperow was first caught smuggling illegal drugs into the United States in the mid-1970s, when he was found with 1,330 pounds of marijuana. After being released from prison, he continued smuggling marijuana from Mexico and South America and later became involved in what prosecutors said was “large-scale” methamphetamine manufacturing.
In 1996, investigators linked Sperow to hundreds of pounds of marijuana shipments sent from Los Angeles to Portland, Cleveland and Philadelphia. After being detected at Portland International Airport attempting to retrieve 200 pounds of marijuana in 1996, Sperow fled and spent eight years as a fugitive. He was finally captured in 2004 and sent to prison.
Despite reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors, Sperow filed an appeal Monday with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In earlier hearings before Winmill last year, Sperow argued unsuccessfully that his right to a speedy trial had been violated.
Sperow was indicted along with 16 other defendants in the case in September 2006. He was taken into custody in 2004 on another drug case from Oregon and did not complete his sentence in that case until last October.
Sperow was originally scheduled to go to trial in the current case in early 2007. The case was held over several times and Sperow claimed the delays violated his constitutional rights. Prosecutors said they did everything to move the cases against Sperow and his co-defendants forward as quickly as possible.
At sentencing, Winmill ordered Sperow to forfeit $6 million in drug trafficking proceeds and another $5 million derived through money laundering. The government seized properties in Lakeside, California, Colorado and Hawaii.
Fourteen defendants have been sentenced in the case. Two remaining defendants are scheduled to be sentenced later this summer. Another defendant died after he was indicted.
The drug ring, which operated over three decades, was accused of earning more than $20 million. It began with Jones and several friends who grew up in Days Creek.
The group began growing and selling marijuana in the Days Creek area and later expanded to smuggling large quantities of drugs from Mexico and Southern California. The drug ring was dismantled following the 2002 prosecution of a major north Idaho drug trafficker, Leland Lang, who received shipments from Jones' group.
Police seized $1 million in cash from Lang's mountaintop residence in Stites, Idaho, in 2002. He is scheduled to be released from a federal community corrections facility in Seattle in October.
“The Jones investigation was significant because it combined decades of evidence from multiple jurisdictions and brought charges against an incorrigible group of smugglers, transporters, wholesalers, distributors and money launderers whose criminal activities generated tens of millions of dollars in criminal proceeds,” said Tom Moss, U.S. attorney for Idaho. “This criminal enterprise was brought down through the persistence and hard work of many dedicated law enforcement professionals in Idaho, Oregon and elsewhere.”
Officers with the Douglas Interagency Narcotics Team were among those who spent years investigating Jones and other members of the group.
• You can reach reporter John Sowell at 957-4209 or by e-mail at jsowell@nrtoday.com.
